Sworders failed to register our absentee bid and then dug their heels in…read more.. We bid for a painting via an absentee (commission) bid but due to an error on Sworders part they did not register the bid in their system. So on the day the painting sold for considerably less than we had said we were willing to pay. Sworders admitted it was their mistake, apologised and offered a future commission free purchase as way of compensation. But as we seldom buy via auction, the offer was not something we could utilise. We were extremely upset and saw no reason why Sworders should profit from this botched sale via their 40%+ combined buyers/sellers commission. After a bit of too-ing and fro-ing we suggested that the best way of resolving this incident was that Sworders could give their £350 commission to a charity of our choice - a Hospice - otherwise we said we would go to the Small Claims Court. At that point the MD, Paul Martin became absurdly sanctimonious that we had threatened to go to court and fell back on his legal understanding that as we had suffered no actual or potential financial loss or expense, we might win any court case but would only receive nominal damages despite Sworders having admitted liability. This seemed incredibly mean-spirited of a company with the reputation of Sworders, given we were asking for their profit on the botched sale to go to a hospice. Well we have been to court now (much delayed - Sworders did not even bother turning up to court on the day). But Paul Martin was wrong. We won not just our case, but also the full £350 compensation we had asked for originally (which will now go to the Hospice as planned).

Sworders manage to combine top End Country house sales with fun weekly general sales very…read moreprofessionally. Their staff are always very helpful and welcoming. Any visit to their eco-Auction House is always pleasant.

Buy smart not hard, and you'll save a lot of money at this auction house. I love this place. The…read morefirst time we moved to London from America we bought all of our furniture here, and a lot of great decorative items and amazing crystal vases. Insanely cheap too. And when we were ready to move back to America we simply gave them a call, they picked up all our stuff, and sold it for us! We got back about 80% of what we'd paid. Not bad at all for a year of a house filled with nice antiques, and a bunch of great items that we took back home to America. Now that we're back in London, I'm sure we'll return to the Southgate Auction Rooms, even if we live a bit farther away.

Great auction house. Fortnightly sales full off bargains and regular specialist sales.read more